Bus-powered transportable flash-based storage options are one of many rising segments within the consumer-focused direct-attached storage market. The emergence of 3D NAND with TLC and QLC has introduced down the price of such drives. NAND producers like Western Digital, Samsung, and Crucial/Micron who additionally market transportable SSDs have an inherent benefit when it comes to vertical integration. Last yr, Crucial/Micron had introduced its entry into the phase with the QLC-based Crucial Portable SSD X8, which was reviewed in January. A number of months again, Crucial up to date the lineup with a 2TB mannequin whereas including a lower-performance X6 member to the portfolio. This evaluation units out to find out how these high-capacity transportable SSDs fare towards the rivals on this market phase.
Introduction
External bus-powered storage gadgets have grown each in storage capability in addition to speeds over the past decade. Thanks to speedy developments in flash expertise (together with the appearance of 3D NAND and NVMe) in addition to sooner host interfaces (corresponding to Thunderbolt Three and USB 3.x), we now have palm-sized flash-based storage gadgets able to delivering 2GBps+ speeds. While these speeds could be achieved with Thunderbolt Three and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, mass-market gadgets must depend on conventional USB. Entry-level USB drives make the most of a flash controller with a direct USB interface, whereas the mid-range and high-end ones use flash packages behind both a SATA or NVMe SSD controller along with a SATA/NVMe-USB bridge. In in the present day’s evaluation, we check out the Crucial Portable SSD X6, a SATA SSD behind a USB 3.2 Gen 2 bridge chip, and the Crucial Portable SSD X8, a NVMe SSD behind a USB 3.2 Gen 2 bridge chip.
From a efficiency viewpoint, the X6 and X8 fall beneath completely different classes which can be referred to right here on as SATA-class and NVMe-class. Under the SATA-class gadgets, the Crucial Portable SSD X6 is pitted towards the next exterior SSDs that had been reviewed earlier:
- ADATA SC680 960GB
- HP P600 500GB
The Crucial Portable SSD X8 goes head-to-head towards the next drives:
- Crucial Portable SSD X8 1TB
- OWC Envoy Pro EX USB-C 2TB
- SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD v2 2TB [JHL6540]
- SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD v2 1TB
- WD My Passport SSD (2020) 1TB
A fast overview of the inner capabilities of the SATA-class drives is given by CrystalDiskInfo.
| SATA-Class External Drives Information |
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The X6 helps each UASP and TRIM – the 2 fundamental issues to look out for when coping with SATA SSDs behind a USB bridge.
On the NVMe-class drives entrance, CrystalDiskInfo offers the next data.
| NVMe-Class External Drives Information |
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Despite TRIM not being explicitly talked about within the CrystalDiskInfo report, we had been in a position to activate it on the X8. Otherwise, the reported S.M.A.R.T attributes are just like those obtained for the opposite exterior SSDs in the identical class.
Testbed Setup and Testing Methodology
Evaluation of DAS models on Windows is completed with a Hades Canyon NUC configured as outlined under. We use one of many rear USB Type-C ports enabled by the Alpine Ridge controller for each Thunderbolt Three and USB gadgets.
| AnandTech DAS Testbed Configuration | |
| Motherboard | Intel NUC8i7HVB |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8809G Kaby Lake, 4C/8T, 3.1GHz (as much as 4.2GHz), 14nm+, 8MB L2 |
| Memory | Crucial Technology Ballistix DDR4-2400 SODIMM 2 x 16GB @ 16-16-16-39 |
| OS Drive | Intel Optane SSD 800p SSDPEK1W120GA (118 GB; M.2 Type 2280 PCIe 3.zero x2 NVMe;… |
